Novice with a backward running portable

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:12 pm

Hello folks! I'm new round these quarters and -after quite a long wait- I got started with vintage phonographs. I got myself a Silvertone portable ... and there was a problem. The crank was missing (don't know who's to blame there) so in my eagerness I managed to wind up the machine with a pencil (I've handled vintage talking machines before at an antique store so I'm sure I did it the right way) only to find out that the motor runs backwards. Also, the speed control doesn't seem to respond and it doesn't start on its own either, I gotta give it a little push (and even then it started to go backwards). Any idea on how to fix this?
Thanks for the assistance.

gramophoneshane · Post by **gramophoneshane** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:39 am

Sorry, but spring driven gramophone motors just CANT run backwards... unless they're possessed by poltergiest.

AZ* · Post by AZ* » Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:11 am

I have to agree with GS. You wind the machine clockwise; the turntable rotates clockwise.

Shane · Post by **Shane** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 2:21 am

Whoa... that's a new one on me.

Post by **schweg** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:18 am

Perhaps you are placing the tonearm on the wrong side of the record spindle? That might make it appear that the motor is running in the wrong direction... However, I like the idea of a haunted phonograph much better than this easy solution!!

1923VictorFan · Post by **1923VictorFan** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:26 am

I don't have any possessed phonographs but I do have an Alma Gluck record that I would swear is evil.

novkev24 · Post by **novkev24** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:09 am

1923VictorFan wrote:I don't have any possessed phonographs but I do have an Alma Gluck record that I would swear is evil.

Nat · Post by **Nat** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:03 pm

novkev24 wrote:
1923VictorFan wrote:I don't have any possessed phonographs but I do have an Alma Gluck record that I would swear is evil.

Aren't they all?

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:22 pm

Guest wrote:Hello folks! I'm new round these quarters and -after quite a long wait- I got started with vintage phonographs. I got myself a Silvertone portable ... and there was a problem. The crank was missing (don't know who's to blame there) so in my eagerness I managed to wind up the machine with a pencil (I've handled vintage talking machines before at an antique store so I'm sure I did it the right way) only to find out that the motor runs backwards. Also, the speed control doesn't seem to respond and it doesn't start on its own either, I gotta give it a little push (and even then it started to go backwards). Any idea on how to fix this?
Thanks for the assistance.

Can you post a short video of the machine in operation? If not a video, a picture or two with a clear description of the direction the turn table is spinning.

Uncle Vanya · Post by **Uncle Vanya** » Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:39 pm

I once found a Rishell machine with a Meisselbach motor that had been repaired by a fellow who forgot to mark the proper direction for the installation of the springs in their barrels. the motor ran backward, and did so rather well, so a jbackward-running machine IS a possibility.

Novice with a backward running portable

Novice with a backward running portable

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